WHY WE REMAIN THE WAY WE ARE

Have we asked ourselves why we remain the way we are year in and year out? One of the reasons is that is we feel that no one could be like us. It is because of our bloated ego. It is because we feel that we are an island of our own, we become secluded and live a false life and think that no one knows the mess we are in. Consequently, we are locked in our own ideas unable to know that there are others who know better than us. To hear that others know better than us, puts off. Is it because our mind is crammed with excess information load? Does knowing the reality of ourselves make us feel absurd? Or will it help us know the other side of ourselves? How long shall we continue to hide that persona of who we are? Are we afraid to reveal who we are for fear that if others really know us, we feel bad about ourselves and we reject ourselves? What really make us wear this thick mask that makes us incomprehensive? How long shall we remain the way we are? Wearing masks disfigures us and makes us unreal. Why are we afraid to tell people who we are? Why should we continue to have a divided life? Do we really know the pros and cons of such life? People mask themselves in the society because the society plays a lot of social hypocrisy. People are afraid to confront anyone who has such a bizarre concept of himself and life. Anyone who feels that he is satisfied with himself and can do without other members of the society is not a healthy person. Infact such a person is dangerous to the society. If he is allowed to swim in an ocean of stupidity he would convince others to be like him and see life in the same way.
A good home will pull us back to the real life and prepares us to live a normal life with a sense of purpose and not a life devoid of real values. A little reflection on ourselves helps us know that we are living in a world with others and that we need one another to grow.We need one another to dust our old ideas of ourselves; otherwise, we rusticate and feel we are okay with the way we function in the society. Even a crab or a tortoise has a life outside its shell though it poses like a hermit. We cannot continue to live the way we are because it is without spiritual import and overtly lacks economic values. It is a selfish life and an un-ambitious life, a life that does not attract others to us. It is an esoteric life, a life meant for the crab or the tortoise and the few people who share their values. It is a club way of life where people do not care if they hurt others or not. They feel happy by making people sad. Nothing can change their minds when they embark on doing what they want whether others like it or not!! The reason why we are the way we are is because nobody has been honest with us to help us refocus and see the other side of our life.Nobody has really confronted our problem to redefine our life and help us see life in a better perspective.They allow us to drift and rot away because they don’t want to hurt us and cannot predict our reaction. They might see our confrontation as a threat to their personality without knowing that confrontation is also helpful.
We have many big-wigs, unreachable thin-gods and Nebuchadnezzars in our towns and villages. They feel that they are all and all in the society. Such people cannot encourage development nor encourage people to use their God-given ideas to work for the betterment of the society. The society should be blamed for maintaining this conspiracy of silence and allowing things to go banal. Jesus did not allow people to remain the way they were. He knew that such a life was a boring life, a life that excluded others. He helped people whose lives were shattered by false ideology and uninformed background. He regained their freedom from ignorance. He made people live meaningful lives, a life of spiritual productivity, a life pleasing to God and our fellow human beings. Jesus came that people may have life and have it more abundantly.A self-dominated, monopolistic life, a life not shared, a life left to be rusticated is not a life well lived. Jesus has called us to remind our brothers and sisters of ‘who they are’. Jesus urges us not to allow our brothers to remain the way they are because they do not know that the way they are is not socially, spiritually and economically profitable. People perish for lack of knowledge. If we really know why they are that way we pity them. We have to take the bull by the horn to pull them out of the pit; to save them from this ideological ghetto and bring them back to the real world, a world of shared-ideas that foster teamwork for the good of the society and for the betterment of ourselves. A society that allows one man to be the only source of good ideas is heading to extinction. Today we live in a predominantly “yes man’s” society. So how long can we continue to live in a world of fantasy instead of a world inspired by real values canvassed by Jesus Christ? A world of shared-ideas and values is an edifying world where nobody would feel that he is the only cock that crows; but lives and learns from others and grows with others. One should not be alienated by one’s own lifestyle and pseudo-philosophy of life but should be helped, as the sick is helped by the doctor.
VERY REV. MSGR LIVINUS UKAH